This post is about one of my 45-second pitches at my BNI Chapter, BNI City Business. You can read the introduction to this collection here.

8 December 2023. The final full meeting of the year. The Pitch Theme was to share “Your best client success story from this year. How you helped a specific client. Include Industry/business type, their problem, and your solution.” In 45 seconds or less.

A few in the room had some good customer stories, and most went well over time. I chose not to use the theme. It is not mandatory to use the theme, but it is unlikely you will win that week’s door prize for best pitch.

Instead, I talked about how an Exit Plan enables business owners to Land On Their Feet when they sell (or otherwise exit) their business. A deliberate link between the slide and the message. A good reaction from the room, despite the ‘punchline’ being at the bottom of the screen.

At the end of a BNI meeting is a section called Raps and Referrals. Each member stands up and thanks others in the room for help and referrals received. This is the giving part of the meeting. This week’s meeting ran late (almost 10 minutes over as the 45-sec pitches ran well over time)). I just happened to be the last person to stand to give my thanks. Being signalled to wrap things up, I really wanted to share and publicly thank Karl for changing my tyre, and Graham for the repairs the previous week. At BNI we practice praising in public, and this was the best way I could think of saying thanks.